S.U.T. Triumpf Swiss Rally
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AN A.E.C. Reliance with a Burlingham 30-seat body entered by Sheffield United. Tours, Ltd., took first place in the technical tests in the 8th International Coach Rally at Montreux, Switzerland, last week. This coach also gained third place in its class in' the concours d'elegance, and got a similar placing in the overall road section and regularity and technical tests.
The driver, Arnold Wilson, got a special prize for giving the best performance in the technical tests.
Two other British vehicles also secured major awards. A Perkinsengined Seddon with a Jonckheere 20seat body, operated by Ideal-Tourisme, Liege, had second place in the overall classification and was third in the technical tests.
The A.E.C.-Gangloff 25-seater operated by Audcrset-Dubois, Geneva, which won a major prize in the concours d'elegance in the Nice Rally a few days before, was placed second in its class in the coneours d'elegance at Montreux, Bayern-Express, of Munich, took the premier award with a Daimler-BenzVetter 32-seat coach. This vehicle had first place in the road section and regularity test and came second in the technical tests. Another Bayern-Express entry, a Bussing-N.A.G.-Emmelmann coach with seats for 39 passengers, was second in the road section and regularity test.
German and French coaches were at first place in each of the three classes in the concotirs d'elegance. A special prize went to an unclassified Swedish coach.
Only 13 coaches competed, although seven countries were repreSented. Germany sent four coaches, Switzerland three, Belgium two, and Britain, France, Holland and Sweden one each.
To obtain the maximum number of points in the road section, the competitors had to carry a full complement of c 12 passengers over a distance of 620 miles in the three days preceding the rally, which began on Wednesday, May 16.
Travelling from Nice, via Milan, Lucerne and Lausanne, the S.U.T. coach covered just over 600 miles in that period. On the stretch between Milan and Lucerne, a distance of 258 miles, the journey took in the Maloja and St. Julier passes, which involved the coach in a climb to a height of 7,493 ft.
Regularity and fuel-consumption tests were carried out on a full-day excursion from Montreux on the Thursday. This involved a 90-mile round trip, via Martigny and Villars in the Vaudoises Alps.
Drivers were required to declare an average speed for the journey before leaving the starting point on the out
skirts of the town. At this point, too, the fuel tanks were checked and sealed, remaining in this state until returning to Montreux.
The technical trials were held on the Friday on the promenade alongside Lake Geneva. The accessibility of the engine was tested by clocking the time a driver took from leaving his seat to when he placed the necessary tool on either the sparking plug or the injection nozzle, depending. on the type of power unit.
A combined acceleration and braking test was then conducted over a distance of approximately 500 yds., followed by tests of the angle of the wheel lock.
The coaches then had to be taken at speed round a marked course, a test that required the utmost skill and concentration on the part of the drivers. This section of the rally was concluded with an uphill acceleration trial. Held high above the town, it was conducted along a 1,000-yd. stretch of mountain road with a gradient of 14 to I. this section. Saturday morning was given over to
the concours d'elegance. The international panel of sel)en judges for this section again had Mr. John F. Speed, associate editor, Coaching Journal, as the British representative.
Although there were fewer coaches than last year, the competition was strong. The Burlingham body entered by S.U.T. was making its debut in the Montreux rally, and it did well to achieve third place in the class for coaches used on internItional services.
Although generally similar in design to the coaches entered by S.U.T. in previous rallies, the Burlingharn body had a number of distinctive features, including a Key-Leather combustiorv heater-ventilator unit on the roof.
The seats, particularly in respect of the headrests, were an improvement on earlier designs, although they were not easily accessible. Each pair of seats had In arm in the centre which could
he Folded into a recess in the back if it was not required. Fixed behind each seat was a small foldingtable.
As with most other British coaches used chiefly for Continental touring which I have examined 1 found wanting the accessibility of entry into the saloon via the emergency. door. Although this door is not normally in mc in Britain, operators of foreign tours should not forget that this is the door used by their passengers when the coach is on the Continent. l.itted at the rear on the off side was a toilet compartment, the rest of the back of the saloon accommodating built-in cupboards for refreshments and crockery. A tea-coffee urn was also provided.
The A.E.C.-Gangloff coach entered by Auderset-Dubois was outstanding for its attention to the finer points that make for passenger comfort and convenience, particularly as regards its wide, unobstructed entrance-way and its allround excellence of visibility. The seats were in pairs along one side and single along the other, 25 in all, but it is not an arrangement that I would like to see practised generally in Britain; tour parties comprise too many couples for it to succeed over here.
.,Two exceptional entries were those of the Societe Generale des Transports Departernentaux (operating as Transcar) and A. B. Linjebuss, Stockholm. The Transcar vehicle, a . one-and-a-half decker, was entered with 30 seats, all staggered, but it had a capacity of 52.
The Linjebuss coach, built' by A. S. J. Svenska, was rightly considered by the judges to be outside the three classes in the concours d'elegance. It was designed expressly to carry, at a cost of nearly £500 each, American tourists on a 43-day tour of Europe.
What I saw at Montreux convinced me that, whilst it is true that the British operator could not afford to pay, say, £10,000 for a coach, as do many of his counterparts on the Continent, it would cost him little to provide such commonsense amenities as adjustable footrests and wider entrances.
The chief placings in the rally are given below.